A journalist and member of the Russian Duma, Shchekochikhin died from a fatal allergy that covered his body in red blotches and made his internal organs collapse. During his career he had reported many times from the ground in Chechnya and had been campaigning against human rights abuses in Chechnya and corruption in general.

Anna Politkovskaya Killed October 2006

The Russian journalist wrote for the Novaya Gazeta newspaper and also published two books, The Dirty War and Putin's Russia: Life in a Failing Democracy, which were very critical of the Kremlin's Chechen policy. Despite several attempts on her life, she carried on with her work until she She was shot dead on her doorstep in Moscow.

Stanislav Markelov Killed January 2009

The well known Russian human rights lawyer had who represented Anna Politkovskaya and the family of Elza Kungayeva, a Chechen woman killed by a Russian army officer in 2000. He was shot dead by a masked gunman in broad daylight in Moscow, together with Anastasia Baburova, a trainee journalist with Novaya Gazeta.